Bournemouth director of football Tiago Pinto has hit back at his critics from his time at Roma, pointing out the many successful signings of his era.
Corriere dello Sport cover comments from the Bournemouth director of football today. He’s been interviewed by Cronache di Spogliatoio.
Pinto has been ‘Managing Director of Professional Football at Bournemouth since May 2024, playing a key role as, they’ve continued to rise under Andoni Iraola.
It’s his third such role in football. He started his career with Benfica as director of football, holding the role from 2017 to 2020. A year later he took up the sporting director role at Roma, holding that role from 2021 to 2024.
He oversaw 27 signings during that time, with varying success rates. While he receives praise for securing high-impact free transfers like Paulo Dybala and Romelu Lukaku, he also faces criticism for several expensive flops.
Signings such as Bryan Reynolds, Eldor Shomurodov, and Matias Viña all resulted in significant financial losses and are now seen as poor investments.
It was a similar situation on the pitch, where trophy success was often overshadowed by failure to secure Champions League football. The Bournemouth director, though, believes he did a fine job given the circumstances handed to him.
“In three years, we reached a Europa League final and semifinal, as well as winning a Conference title,” he said.
“Not enough: everyone wanted to qualify for the Champions League, but at least we achieved something. Those who don’t like me will always bring up the names of Vina, Renato Sanches, and Shomurodov.
“There are no problems, but some good things have been done. Svilar and N’Dicka arrived for free, and Celik for €7 million. Considering the financial situation, with all the limitations, I think we’ve managed to do a lot with little.
“What we’ve done has been extraordinary. I’ll name a few: Zalewski, Bove, Calafiori, and Pisilli. But also, Marin, currently third at PSG.” He shared this credit with another person: “Let’s not forget Mourinho’s role, who gave these guys space.”
